These photographs were taken on the 14th of July 2000, “Bastille Day”, the vehicle shown is a “back-up” for the military parade.

The Gendarmerie is part of the French Army but has missions of law and order, anti-terrorism and riot control similar to those of the police.

The Gendarmerie have a range of armoured vehicles at their disposal (they even had Sherman tanks in the not too distant past) including the VBC (Véhicule Blindé de Combat - Combat Armoured Vehicle) which is a six wheeled turreted armoured car, and the VBRG (Véhicule Blindé à Roues de la Gendarmerie - Gendarmerie wheeled armoured vehicle) shown on these photographs).

Most Gendarmerie vehicles are painted in a distinctive glossy deep blue colour.

More details, line drawings and photographs on the VBC and VBRG can be found in the book “VEHICULES DE COMBAT FRANCAIS D’AUJOURDH’UI” by Yves Debay, published by Histoire & Collections (ISBN 2 908 182 564 ).

Download the ZIP file (232 K).